PTEN and infectious otitis media: Mice that received E. lactis supplementation (with or without HPL) demonstrated significantly reduced expression of all four apoptotic protein markers by 14.8% to 67.3% and 29.4 to 80%, respectively, compared to the AOM/DSS group, which had higher levels of PCNA (3.4-fold), PTEN (2.7-fold), VEGF (9.5-fold), COX-2 (6.2-fold), and STAT-3 (3.3-fold) (Figure 3a–d).